A Poplar Place Called Sipsey

Recently, a group met with Auburn University Urban Studio Director Cheryl Morgan to discuss possible ideas for improving the town of Sipsey. On Monday, April 23rd, a meeting was held at the town hall to unveil some of those ideas.One idea mentioned during a previous meeting was to clean up the water tower. Morgan,who is also a licensed architect and Emerita Professor of Architecture in Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction, suggested repainting it with a poplar tree and the name SIPSEY. “Your town, the name ‘Sipsey,’ means ‘poplar tree,’” she said. “It’s one of the fastest-growing trees and doesn’t have a short life span like many other fast-growing trees.”Morgan suggested adding a front porch, rocking chairs and a welcome sign on the front of town hall and planting poplar trees there. “If I’m coming in from that trestle, past those beautiful bluffs, this is one of the first views I have past the post office,” she said.Other suggestions included adding community gardens, orchards, fruit and nut trees, planting sunflowers, and building a windmill for crop irrigation.   78Photos by Terrell Manasco